My Twenty First Birthday
by sharneybob
Summary: He was her favourite ninja and she'd relied on him since she was a little girl. Today was her special day...so where was he now? *Kakashi x OC*
1. Chapter 1: Him

Hallo, minna-san! :D~ Right, so this is my first fanfic ever, let me explain a few things~

The character Sharne is..me. I've always wanted to be in a ficcie (with Kakashiii), so I finally wrote one! ^_^

I also started writing this fic on days before my 21st birthday...hence the title lol ^.^

argh, can't believe I've actually done it! x.x well, I enjoyed writing it, so I hope you enjoy reading it, and please review once you have and let me know about it. =D

x

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto series or Okami! (..or Kakashi ;-;)

Also, may I add, I'm practically re-editing the whole fic atm. I DID already do this, but ff decided it actually _didn't_ want to. rr.

* * *

Sharne sat beneath her bedroom window. She was sat on a plushy cushion, which sat upon a creaky old wooden chair, that had been sitting strong in that same room for the past 21 years.  
As she gazed over the land she now would come to rule, which had toned down slightly by twilight, she found her mind wandering back to him. Again…

"It's funny, how things turn out in the end…" she sighed, mindlessly wrapping a lock of her long, dark brown hair round her finger. She took the last marshmallow out of the packet and chewed on it slowly. The first star began to peek through the evening sky quite prominently, well, this was the Village of the Stars after all…

And Sharne was, and unknowingly had been, princess of Star Village her whole life.

.~.

After almost 12 years of searching, her people finally discovered her in the war-damaged Hidden Leaf Village…Konoha.

When she was just 8 years old, Star Village was also engaged in war with the Land of the Moon Tribe. Her father - the King of Star Country - along with many, many Star citizens, were assassinated. The village was torn and blown to smithereens.

Her mother - the Queen - ran far away from the village with Sharne as a last chance of survival, but the ninja had hunted her down and killed her too, leaving Sharne alone in the world. Her mother had known they were tracking them, and ordered Sharne to hide inside a huge willow tree whilst she ran in the other direction. She curled up inside the tree, terrified, imagining the scared faces of her mother and father, and stayed in the tree for almost two days.

And that was where she was found, weak, hungry and scared, by Konoha's Yellow Flash...Namikaze Minato.

Sharne was never before trained to be a ninja, and was never going to be a great ninja, either.

However, Minato-sensei had brought it upon himself to look after her, being an orphan with no village to go back to. So she joined Team 7 - A team of three other young ninja who were being trained by Minato. But they weren't in her age group….in other circumstances, she would be put into a team of three 8 year old Genins, not three 13 year olds. However, because she didn't know of the "way of the shinobi", Minato thought she should join a stronger team. Team 7 consisted of Obito - a member of the Uchiha and Chuunin level, Rin - a medic-nin and a Chuunin, and most importantly, Hatake Kakashi - a Jonin (who would later come to be known as the "Copy Ninja"), son of the White Fang, and little Sharne's favourite ninja.

Sharne was barely even a Genin when she joined the team, only achieving that status thanks to Minato's persuasion of the Hokage. So she followed Team 7 on their missions, often riding on the back of Minato-sensei, or the shoulders of Kakashi when she just couldn't keep up anymore.

Though she was much younger and immature, she loved her team, and they treated her like their younger sister, always protecting her from any harm and teaching her some techniques.

Minato acted as a father figure to Sharne, of course, and she treated him as such. Following him around like a little duckling when she first came to the Hidden Leaf. He gave her most of the ninja training she knew now.

Obito was always so much fun to play with, it was hard to think of him as an OLDER brother. He tried to teach her the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and always laughed at her ghostly clone lying in a scrambled heap, making her pout.

Rin played the role as her older 'sister' well, having girly chats and teaching her some valuable healing methods using her chakra. Sharne didn't have much chakra, but she could still heal a wound pretty well.

Kakashi was very mature for his age, and Sharne always felt sad for him, sympathising having both lost their father. However…Kakashi was her most favourite, because he was always looking out for her, giving her piggy back rides when she was tired, shielding her from getting into battle, tapping her on the forehead if she was being childish, occasionally buying strawberry-flavoured Pocky for her…her favouritest treat!

However, Kakashi never would give her ninja training. Occasionally he would show her a kunai trick now and then…but she wondered why not? He was the strongest ninja of the 4. He was a _Jonin_. He was so clever. He was so _skilled_…

But still Kakashi would not train Sharne.

Because…

He never wanted her to engage in a battle.

.~.

"Obito-nii-chaaan!"

"Hey, brat, it's Obito-_senpai_ to you!" Obito grinned his big smile, and poked Sharne in the centre of her forehead with two fingers.

"Ow, nya!" Sharne stuck her tongue out at him and giggled, and ran up to Kakashi, tugging on his arm, "Kaka-san is the leader. Sensei said so, so that makes _him_ senpai! Right? Kakashi-senpai…?"

"Heh. Right," Kakashi patted her on top of her head once. Sharne smiled, pleased at herself, and skipped to the riverbank where she sat and dipped her feet in the cool river.

She looked at the other three and smiled.

Obito had given Rin a daisy as a token of his love, and Rin simply brushed him away, whilst attending to Kakashi's 'wound'…which actually, was just a scratch. It was obvious to Sharne that Obito was in love with Rin, but Rin was in love with Kakashi… During their girly chats, Rin would often (a LOT) comment on Kakashi's skill and strength, his intelligence, his mystery, how handsome he was - her "mysterious knight in shining armour" she had called him.

True, she couldn't deny he was handsome, even as a 9 year old girl. They had only once seen him without his mask on when Minato-sensei had treated the team and took them to a Ramen bar.

But to Sharne, Kakashi did not seem to show much interest in Rin, in _that _way that Obito did.

She smiled and frowned at the same time at the awkward love triangle in front of her. She was too young to understand this lovestuff anyways…

"Now…Minato-sensei has been ordered back to the village for some very important matter…so this means we must continue our mission and defeat the enemy by ourselves." Kakashi announced suddenly. "We have to stick together in order to keep Sharne-chan out of harm, if we move apart it could be troublesome. We have to watch each others backs. Obito, lead the way to the enemy with your Sharingan. Right, ikuze!"

And so, they pressed on…

With the last mission Team 7 would ever have together.

x-x-x-x

* * *

A/N: May I add, I didn't know what Minato's team was called (I now know it's 'Team Minato' ¬.¬) so I just called it 'Team 7'. Cause I want it to be. :)  
Aaand, I got the idea of the 'People of the Moon Tribe' from Okami, if you're interested (it's an amazing game, people, so you should play it! =D)


	2. Growing Pains

It was a sunny day in Konoha and she was 15 years old. She looked around the empty memorial site, in which stood two graves. "Obito…Sensei…" she whispered..

It had been 6 years since they died. Obito had been crushed by a massive boulder. Minato-sensei was killed whilst sealing the Kyuubi fox.

She knew Kakashi had visited already, she had waited for him to leave so he could not see her grieving. They often would visit their graves together, but today was different. She knew he wouldn't show any weak emotions infront of others (infact, the last time she saw him upset was when Obito was dying, having shoved him out of the way of the falling rock) - so she would let him visit the graves alone today. She smiled sadly as her eye betrayed her and let the tear slide down her cheek. She laid two daisies on each grave before standing up. There were only two members of the original Team 7 left, now…

Rin had left Konoha and joined another country not long after Obito's fall. She had confessed her true feelings to Kakashi, who just kind of shrugged them off. Sharne guessed that must have been the reason for her leaving?

Her mind travelled back to that day…

_Shinobi from the Moon Tribe had surrounded the three of them. Kakashi was powering up his not-yet perfected technique. Rin tried to stop him, but he ignored her and continued to power up._

"_Kakashi…NO!" Sharne cried loudly, tugging at the back of his Jonin vest tightly. "I don't want to lose you too!"_

"_Don't worry, everything will be fine." Kakashi said calmly, studying every enemy precisely with his new Sharingan eye that Obito had given to him, just before he died. They would not escape him this time._

"_I won't let you die… I'll protect you with my life!" he channelled his last remaining chakra through his arms, down to his hand, charging at the enemy with a blinding blue light and the sound of a thousand birds…_

"_CHIDORI!"_

_.~._

Sharne made her way through the streets of Konoha to the usual meeting spot of the new "Team 7". Kakashi had now become a sensei of three new Genin kids; Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. Sharne remained in Kakashi's team as she had not progressed much as a ninja…she was much better now, the Hokage had taught her some valuable medical jutsu, but at the end of the day she was still Genin and would be treated as so.

It annoyed her, but she was glad to stay with Kakashi. They had both grown up a fair amount in 6 years. Sharne had grown taller, prettier and slender. Kakashi was an adult now, he had become more muscular and strong, well, _stronger _than since he was younger. And no doubt more attractive. She'd noticed.

Sharne was the one to be late this morning. "SHARNE-CHAN!" she was greeted as Naruto bounded up to her and glomped her. Sakura waved happily, and Sasuke ever cool and mysterious, simply nodded at her.

"Ohayo, Sharne-chan." nodded Kakashi. She noticed him quickly snap his Icha Icha novel shut, and cringed a little inside. _Well, he's as casual as ever, anyways._

"Good morning, Kaka-senpai…Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun!" she smiled happily at them all. Despite everything, she realised she was happy the way things were, after all.

"Kakashi-sensei! Can we please do something cool rather than walking up trees or catching BELLS? Teach us a super brand new jutsu! PUH-LEEEASE!" begged Naruto.

"Hm…no," Kakashi replied boredly, looking in his book of smut again. "Today we will be learning to attack and defend using our kunai and shuriken, you could all use some work on that. The enemies shall be my kage bunshin. Feel free to stab them all you like," he leapt up and perched on a branch and gave a two-fingered salute. "I'll be up in this tree if you need me."

"YATTA! I'll hit even more Kakashi's then Sasuke, dattebayo!" yelled Naruto, and with that the training began, all Genin began to track the kage bunshin. Apart from one…

'_But…I only have 2 kunai…'_ Sharne thought to herself. She climbed up the tree to the branch where Kakashi sat reading Icha Icha, he didn't seem to be paying attention to those three kids running around crazily with sharp pointy things.

She poked him. "Um…ano…Kakashi-senpai?"

"Hn? What's up, Sharne-chan?"

"Uh, how am I supposed to do this training exactly? You know I barely have any weapons."

"Oh…mm..." Kakashi reached into a pocket of his Jonin jacket, and pulled out a holster of kunai and shuriken. "Well, here you go," he said as he handed them to her, and added solemnly "…be careful. Don't hurt yourself."

Not that he was worried, really. As if he would make a kage bunshin attack her.

Sharne rolled her eyes, then forced a smile. "Thanks, Kakashi-san!"

She jumped down from the tree with an "oomf!", and enthusiastically ran forward to find her first victim. This was the first time she'd really been allowed to chase down an enemy. It was so exciting!

Kakashi looked up from his book. His lazy eye watched her idly and carefully as she ran off…

As Sharne began tracking down Kakashi's shadows, she couldn't help thinking about her senpai. Kakashi seemed distant to her lately…they were close friends, but nowadays he treated her as any other student or acquaintance, except with bigger handicaps. _But why?_ She wasn't a good ninja. Infact, she was just a bother, something that needed looking after because she couldn't fight for herself. Was he bored of her? Or just too mature to hang round with her now?

As she ran through the forest she encountered one of them. The shadow clone was stood on a branch glaring down at her, in a way she had never seen Kakashi look at her before - as an enemy. With all his attention focused solely on her being.

..And she liked it. She felt her cheeks flush. _W-what?_

The shadow clone still stood there, not moving to draw his weapon, so Sharne made the first move and launched the kunai at him. The shadow simply blocked it with his own kunai. So then she threw another three at him which he blocked again without pretty much looking.

This annoyed her so much! She reached for the shuriken. She'd never handled one of these before though… _Oh well, there's a first time for ever_y_thing_.

She threw the shuriken amaturely with force at the kage bunshin, but one of the blades caught the joint of her thumb on the way, slicing the skin and drawing blood.

"OUCH!" she yelped. _That really hurt…!_

The shadow Kakashi caught the shuriken with ease and it spun round his finger. He glared down at Sharne with that same deep stare, before jumping off the branch and advancing toward her.

Sharne froze. _Is he going to attack me now…?_

That stare he gave her. The torturously slow walk he took towards her. She felt like this was the first time Kakashi wouldn't be protecting her. The first time he would be truly testing her.

She was scared.

Sharne tensed rigidly and her heart beat fast when he stopped right in front of her. But while waiting for him to make his move, he simply stared down at her and took her injured hand. He took some bandage from his vest and began to wind it round her hand, firmly yet holding her wrist gently, stopping the blood. When he had finished tying the strings he simply took a step back, clapped his hands together and *poofed* into a cloud of smoke. He was gone.

Sharne blinked and stepped back herself, falling onto her bottom, dazed by what just happened._ He wasn't going to hurt me after all...?_

"Sharne-chan!" the hyperactive blonde boy bounded over to her, followed by the pink haired girl and a moody looking Sasuke.

"Oh, is your hand okay, Sharne-chan? Training is over now! Kakashi-sensei is waiting for all of us, maybe he will treat us to ice cream!"

The four Genin made their way back to Kakashi…who congratulated them with a thumbs up.

"Good job, guys. I was pretty impressed." he said.

"Can we get ice cream now?" Naruto squealed. Kakashi let out a defeated sigh, "Hai hai, Naruto…well, let's go!", and he pointed in the direction of Konoha.

The tired yet happily satisfied Genin followed behind their sensei back to the village, apart from one.

Sharne lagged a short way behind, too embarrassed to face Kakashi. He hadn't mentioned the shuriken incident to her. _And I doubt he will let me use one again ~now~._

She gripped her bandaged hand remembering the dark looking shadow clone Kakashi, eyes boring into hers, with a gentle hold on her wrist and wrapping her hand. So harsh yet gentle at the same time. She blushed thinking about it. How was she going to look him in the eye, now?

_What's wrong with me…? _


	3. A lil TLC

By the age of 19, Sharne had finally achieved the status of Chuunin. She also acknowledged the feelings she would feel around a certain grey-haired Jonin.

The Chuunin exam had not gone well. She had almost failed, after being knocked cold by Anko…

.~.

"_Enough." the Jonin intervened on the exam battlefield, picking up the dazed kunoichi in his arms._

"_What are you doing, Kakashi? You should know it's against the rules to interfere in an exam like that!" the referee Hayate spluttered from the centre of the battlefield._

"_Can't you see that she's had enough? I've trained with this girl for the past 10 years, I know her limits. She can't fight anymore." Then he leapt out of the arena with big jump, not waiting for Hayate's comeback or Sharne to have a chance to come to._

"_Unnn..." Hayate grumbled, and sighed with a defeated shrug.. and cough. "I guess, I declare Anko the winner of this fight." he raised his hand to Anko._

_Sharne's body felt light as she was carried to the hospital, and she slowly opened her eyes. "Ungh…huh? Kakashi…w-what…"_

_Kakashi tilted his head so his eye met hers, looking pitiful. "I'm sorry…"_

_She didn't like that look. Did she fail? God, she was so weak._

.~.

Despite losing the battle to Anko, the Hokage decided to pass Sharne on the exam due to her exceptional healing abilities. Kakashi breathed a sigh…she'd saved him a slap round the face and a "I'm never talking to you again!", atleast, but it meant Tsunade would be giving Sharne more risky tasks now she was Chuunin, so he might've preferred the former.

Sharne wasn't even that injured during the battle, just knocked around a bit. She didn't understand why Kakashi had to interfere and almost ruin it for her.

Oh wait, yes she did, because he would never let her get into a fight if it was any other circumstance. He would always play the 'protective older brother' in bad situations, defeating the enemy before they even had a chance at her.

She smirked in pretend annoyance. How could she stay mad at him? Kakashi was looking out for her, that's all.

…And it was after the exam she finally realised it.

Kakashi was handsome, no doubt. She'd seen him without the mask. But it was more than a crush on him now…she'd probably had that since she was 15 with the kage bunshin incident.

Her heart would melt a little when he looked at her, like that time during the Chuunin exam when she could feel his watchful eye from the gallery…she was so distracted - she wanted to impress him!

Whenever they were walking together quietly, off to their next mission to rescue a cat stuck on a chimney or something, she would get butterflies and a pleasant fuzzy feeling in her chest.

And when Kakashi had carried her to hospital….she felt she would pass out all over again.

She still tried to pass these feelings off as "just a crush". _Even if it was more than that…how will that help anything? I don't think Kakashi likes me in that way…I'm sure he just thinks of me as his younger sibling…that troublesome, 9 year old girl…_

Sharne sighed deeply. Why couldn't she be older? And a Jonin? _I'm sure that would solve everything_.

And just who **was** Kakashi interested in, anyway? She could think of those interested in **him** - Anko, Kurenai, Rin if she was here.

She smiled sadly, feeling sorry for herself. _Ofcourse he would choose them over me…they are better ninjas than I can ever wish to be._

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

Sharne was suddenly met with a typically enthusiastic Gai, instantly shaking her out of her reverie.

"Shaarney-chaaan! Kochi, kochi! Tsunade-sama summons us, she requires the POWER OF YOUUUTH!" Gai exclaimed brilliantly, giving her the thumbs up and flashing that blinding smile.

"Eh…nani? Gai-baka, what do you mean..?" Sharne sweatdropped.

"The Hokage is sending all the Jonin out on an A-rank mission, but, she requires your assistance in the mission as medic-nin!"

Another sweatdrop down her temple. "A-are you sure about this, Gai-senpai…? Will Kakashi be there, too..?"

"Yes, and _yes_! We must HURRY Sharne-chan!"

"O-ok…"

Gai grabbed her hand and took off at top speed to Tsunade's office. "IKUZE!"

.~.

"…Excuse me? I think I heard you wrong."

"You heard right Kakashi. We have few medic-nin as it is, and she is an exceptional healer that I trained myself. Therefore, I will be asking Sharne to join all you Jonin on this mission. No doubt some of you will need her assistance." the Hokage lectured. The rest of the Jonin were quiet.

Kakashi stood rigid with his arms crossed, staring fixatedly through Tsunade as if she wasn't even there. The lady was way too stubborn and wouldn't change her mind once her decisionw as made. For the first time ever, he felt helpless.

Tsunade waved her hand and said with a sigh, "Chill out, Kakashi…I know what you're thinking, and she's going to be fine. She'll have plenty of bodyguards - Yamato, Iruka, Gai, Asuma, Genma, Kurenai, Anko, Shikamaru, you...obviously. I know she's not too strong, but there are no Jonin medics left, and I can't risk several Chuunin going with you and getting killed because you couldn't watch over them all. Sharne is the best Chuunin medic. So I choose her."

Kakashi slowly lowered his gaze, and clenched a fist hard.

"DYNAMIC EN-TU-REEE!" Gai burst through the door with a flustered Sharne desperately trying to catch her breath.

"S-sorry we're late…" Sharne clapped her hands together and bowed in apology to her Hokage.

Kakashi looked at her blankly, defeated.

He turned and left the Hokage's office, without acknowledging her presence as usual.

Sharne felt the cold whoosh of air as he stalked past her without even looking, and watched him leave without a word. All of a sudden she was overwhelmed, like she would start crying at any moment. What did she do? The thought of Kakashi ignoring her like that…did he hate her for this?

"AHHH, KAKASHI! MY ETERNAL RIVAL! BUT I DIDN'T GET THE CHANCE TO FIGHT YOU YET!" Gai yelled and pointed to the door, proceeding to chase after his old rival.

"Yare yare…" Tsunade sighed exaggeratedly, holding her head in her palm.

"Ts-Tsunade-sama…was it because of me? Maybe I…really shouldn't go on this mission…" Sharne dropped her head so her fringe covered her watery eyes that may betray her any moment. The truth was, she really did feel excited to be going on a dangerous mission, and to be going with _Kakashi…_

"No. Kakashi's just being a brat about this. You're not a child anymore, you're almost a young lady, and a fine kunoichi. He can't shield you from the bad guys forever. I can't force you to go on the mission if you don't want to as this is more advanced for your level, but as a medic-nin it is your duty to heal the wounded, ne? No other medic-nin can go on this mission, therefore if someone was to get injured they would not be healed. Now, I want you to meet us tomorrow morning at the village gates at 5am if you wish to join. Bring your first aid kit and potions, clean clothes and money, you're going to be away for three days. Don't worry about bringing weapons, I know you don't have any…" Tsunade gave her the shifty eyes, "I'll supply you with some in the morning. See you then."

"H…hai." Sharne bowed and left the office quickly. Three days was the longest mission she'd have so far. It was going to be fun! But…_'What about Kakashi…?' _She'd have to find him and talk about it. But she simply _had _to go on this mission. Else people could die.

Even Kakashi could die.

.~.

It was as if Kakashi had known her answer straight away be he made sure to avoid her at all costs. Not looking or acknowledging her if she was nearby, then disappearing before she could even confront him.

Sharne felt as though she had been punched in the stomach. After searching for Kakashi all day and dealing with his ignorance, she made her way back to her lonely apartment in defeat. She began packing her clothes hesitantly. _'Oh…what should I do?.. If I don't go tomorrow, then maybe Kakashi will talk to me again…' _She sniffled and threw a bottle of strawberry scented moisturiser in her bag. _'No, I simply HAVE to go. Something could happen to him…'_

It was already 11pm, though she doubted she would get much sleep tonight. She climbed into bed and shivered. Hugging herself warm, she quietly sobbed herself to sleep.


	4. Mission Begin

The alarm clocked bleeped at 4am the next morning and Sharne sat up dizzily against her will._ 'Owwww. My head…'_

Shaking away the cobwebs, she cursed herself for setting the alarm this early. But she needed time in the mornings to do her hair and make herself pretty! Though, she was probably only making the effort for a certain someone…

At 4:57 she grabbed her bag and ran out the door to the village gates. "Kuso! Don't wanna be late…"

.~.

When she reached the gates, she noticed everyone assembled there apart from one.

"Um…Ohayo, minna-san." she said sleepily, trying so hard to suppress a yawn.

"Ah…good morning! Sharne-chan." all the ninja greeted her cheerfully, save a groggy-looking Shikamaru who yawned a "hello" and rubbed the top of his head. Sharne wondered how the others could physically be so bright this time of the morning...

She heard someone clear their throat, and looked to the side to see Tsunade beckoning her to come, and shiftily passed Sharne two holsters of kunai, a holster of shuriken, and two exploding scrolls. Sharne's eyes widened in surprise and she hastily shoved them into her backpack. _"Thankyou, Tsunade-sama..." _she whispered gratefully, but Tsunade was already making her way round the group of Jonin, handing out some kind of scroll...or report. Sharne guessed that it was plans and objectives of the mission which she didn't really need to know.  
Tsunade sighed in exasperation, "_Someone_ give this to Hatake when he _finally_ arrives..."

"Yo." from nowhere Kakashi jumped down as if on cue and startled them all, greeting them simply. He took the form from the Hokage who then *poofed* away to her office...or possibly some early sake bar...

"Uff, damn Hatake. Always late." Iruka scolded, motioning toward the village clock which now read 5.20am.

Kakashi raised his hand to rub the back of his head, "Gomen, gomen…" he read the contents of the scroll, "Well, everyone, the mission is this - Go to Fire Country and recover the hostage Queen Snowcreme of Snow Country, return her to her village, and assassinate Inferno, the King of Fire Country. Got it? Then let's get going. Ikuze!"

And with that all ninja set off to their destination - Fire Country.

"Oh so you're leader now then? Eh? Ehh?" Iruka called after Kakashi as they ran through the forest's trees.

.~.

Sharne ran inbetween Yamato and Shikamaru somewhere near the back of the group. She looked over at Kakashi who seemed to take charge and ran in front, with Anko and Kurenai following closely behind. He still had barely looked at her this morning. She frowned.

They had been running for just half hour, but Sharne was already starting to get tired._ 'Baka. Don't slow them down already.'_ The others had a ton of energy left. They're Jonins, of course they would.

Shikamaru, who was running behind, suddenly jumped up next to her.

"Sharne-chan…stay focused. Keep running straight forward. Do not change direction, just keep running, okay?" he ordered.

"Huh?" she was confused. Then all of a sudden, all Jonin seemed to dart in the other direction. Sharne stopped dead in her tracks, shocked. Then remembered Shikamaru's words and began running again, feeling dumb. '_It must be an enemy attack…! I guess Shika thought I would get in the way, I'll just run as fast as I can…uh?'_

"Eek..!" two kunai were approaching Sharne through the air…and fast! She didn't know what to DO!

_Ohgodohkamiohgod._

As if Kami had actually answered her, with a flash of grey he appeared from above. Using the steel shield panels on the gloves of his forearms, he struck the two approaching kunai, blocking her from their firing line then and sending them flying away into the forest. He then threw two kunai into the forest, Sharne couldn't see what he was aiming for, but heard two painful groans in the distance as the enemies had clearly just been struck.  
All Jonin returned in a military fashion to the tree where Sharne and Kakashi stood.

"That's all of them, Kakashi-san. We can press on now." Anko confirmed, and the other ninja continued moving forward.

"Right. Sharne, are you alright?" Kakashi asked her simply.

"Yes Kakashi…I'm fine. Thankyou." Sharne replied gratefully, pleading in her head that he would speak to her some more.

But he just nodded, then ran ahead again, back to the front of the pack.

But he had saved her again.


	5. The Trouble With Sake

They'd been running for a few hours now, with a couple stops to get water from a river and just have a break, much to Sharne's gratitude. Kakashi was still being distant, she'd noticed. It must be pretty annoying having to protect her from like, everything.

Sharne sat down on the lush grassy bank, and took out a carton of coconut and pineapple juice, her favourite drink, one Kakashi would often treat her to after a day's training as a kid.

"Yummm." she smiled on the inside as she sucked up the yummy juice through a straw.

She saw Kakashi sitting closer to the river with Anko, Iruka and Kurenai nearby. Oh how she longed to walk over there and sit next to him and be in his company, supping her juice, just like she would used to. She could go and sit next to her old teacher and good friend Iruka though, couldn't she? _But then he'll just move away, _she frowned.

Kakashi could hear Anko and Kurenai's babbling behind, giggling and talking in hushed tones, no doubt about him, but he wasn't really paying attention. Man, was he bored. He rubbed his temple and narrowly looked out of the corner of his eye at a lonely looking girl supping a carton of juice. _'Hn...'_ he pondered.

No, he was still pretty annoyed at her decision to be here, he had to give her a reason not to want to go on stupidly dangerous missions like this one again. He fell back onto the comfy grass and groaned quietly.

.~.

After travelling for most of the day, they found a motel that evening where they would stay 'til morning. Sharne unpacked her stuff in her small, rather empty looking room. She was exhausted. First, she would go to the bathhouse and soak her aching muscles, then meet the other Jonin at the bar for a few drinks to unwind a bit and talk about the mission. Though truthfully all she wanted was to crash out on the bed…

Pulling on a casual black vest top and denim shorts after her bath, she made her way into the bar, and sat in the seat next to Iruka-sensei which he warmly beckoned her to. She couldn't help notice that Kakashi was looking good in a black tee and faded black jeans. He wasn't wearing his hitai-ate, so you could see one eye open and his Sharingan eye closed.

"Here you go, Sharne-chan! Are you sure that's all you want...?" Iruka handed her a non-alcoholic glass of lemonade.  
"Yeah.. thanks, Iruka-sensei." her head hurt too much for alcohol tonight.

She listened as Yamato, Iruka, Asuma and Shikamaru discussed their plans for the morning, with Kakashi listening boredly. The routes they would take and villages they would pass. She watched as Gai tried to woo Anko and Kurenai (after failing with herself), with his muscular biceps and "youthfulness" ofcourse, while Genma was 'subtly' flirting with her, asking her questions with a cheeky smirk that made her feel a bit uncomfortable. Genma was such a womaniser...

She didn't see Kakashi shoot him the look of death from the side, causing Genma to flinch and quickly run to the bar to get more drinks. Sharne guessed he must have grown bored at her lack of interest when he started to flirt with Kurenai, she almost felt disappointed. _Atleast someone was giving me attention unlike some ignorant bakas, s_he cast a harsh glare in the direction of the accused copy-nin who seemed oblivious to her daggering eyes.

As the night went on, Sharne had noticed that Anko had been drinking a bit too much sake. It became painfully obvious when she started yelling "LET'S PARTY!" and shamelessly flirting with Kakashi.

Kakashi had ignored her, but didn't shove her away. Even though she was invading hs personal space, sitting up so close to him, almost on his lap. Sharne watched mortified at the scene before her.

'_He's just letting her do that..? But if I go near him, he runs away?' _she thought. She knew that Anko had a thing for Kakashi - everyone knew. She was speechless and angry. _'Does HE like her too?'_

Anko put her hand in Kakashi's hair, ruffling it up a bit, before running her hand down his face to his mask, fingering and playing with it, laughing seductively and finally placing herself on his lap. Her lips curled up into a spiteful smirk as she cast a look over to Sharne, and undid Kakashi's hitai-ate, making his hair flop around his face. "Oooh, Kakashi-kuuun, you're so sexy with your hair like that!" Anko purred and swooned.

Sharne looked down at the table and clenched her fist gently in her lap. She felt humiliated... she didn't want to take anymore. She had to get out. _'Kakashi…you…baka…'_

She stood up from the table and left discreetly but as fast as she possibly could.

.~.

Kakashi pushed the drunken Anko off his lap to the seat next to him. She always ended up like this during Jonin meetings, getting smashed on sake and coming onto him. It was freaking annoying but he'd come to deal with it in the end. He _had_ noticed Sharne run out of the bar though…he could tell she was upset by the scene by the redness of her face.

_'Shit,' _He hadn't pushed her off sooner because he'd wanted Sharne to see and get real annoyed with him for not paying attention to her, but not _that_ much. But he'd gone and upset her instead. Damnit, he didn't _want_ to upset her_..._

Kakashi sighed at his own stupidity - he'd have to go find her. He excused himself from the table much to Anko's annoyance, and wandered outside to the little star fountain in the corner where she was hiding…

.~.

Sharne was facing the trickling water of the fountain, but partly turned around enough so that he could see the dewdrops in her eyes. "Sharne..." - she quickly wiped her tears away with purpose.

"…What?"

"Why are you crying?"

"…It's nothing!" she almost snapped at him. Did he think it was funny, was he happy now he'd finally seen her crack?

"What happened... back there…" he shook his head to clear the hesitantness in his speech. Seeing someone important to him cry always made him lose focus. "Anko...she's always acting desperate when she's drunk, I guess I just choose to ignore it. Listen…"

He turned her fully towards him gently with his hand on her shoulder. Her moist eyes glistened in the starlight. He sighed. "I'm sorry I've been distant to you lately, ok? I was furious at Tsunade. I hoped without encouragement from me, you would stay at home. This is a very dangerous mission and you shouldn't be here," he paused, looking strongly and directly at her to make sure the information sunk in. "I didn't want anything to happen to you. I didn't want you getting hurt. I don't know what I-…" he cut short, thinking before he spoke this time.

"I wanted you to stay at home. I knew you wouldn't, but I had to try, didn't I? Heh, I even considered tying you to your bed while you were sleeping."

Kakashi brushed away the tear that escaped her eye. "Don't cry, Sharne-chan." He gave that genuine copy-ninja smile that meant everything would be fine and dandy. You couldn't really see it, but you could just tell.

"Does this mean you will talk to me again now?" she sniffed. She didn't know if his apology was sincere, or just to make her stop crying. "You're not going to ignore me again tomorrow…are you?"

"Heh. No…I can't do that anymore." he poked her on the forehead gently with two fingers, as he'd always done since she was younger.

She smiled in relief. She wiped the remains of her tears away, her eyes now twinkling like the stars at him. "Thankyou Kaka-san…I'm so…happy!" she gave him a sweet smile.

"Right, we have to leave at 6 in the morning, we should get some sleep, mm?" he bent down to pick a daisy, then tucked it into her hair behind her ear. "Goodnight, Sharne-chan."

Sharne lowered her gaze and blushed pink. "N-night, Kakashi-senpai…"

.~.

She sat on the edge of her bed pulling on her pyjamas, thinking of nothing but him, not even the hard day that lay ahead tomorrow, fingering the daisy he'd given her. She placed it on the dinky little cabinet beside her bed, and stood up to turn the light off the light switch sighing dreamily - she knew that she would actually get some sleep tonight.


	6. A Minor Delay

The next day was sunny, warm and pleasant (as pleasant it could be before facing a deadly foe, anyway). This time Kakashi waited back a bit, letting Iruka take lead of the team, so he could run with Sharne for a while. He should have felt anxious and be preparing himself for a big fight, with them not being far from Fire Country now, but Sharne's cheery chatter about small things like birds in the trees, strawberry-flavoured things and nin-dogs made him feel strangely at ease. He was glad to see her smiling again.

Then, Sharne spotted something white and fluffy on the ground below. "Oh, hey look, a bunny! *snap* IYEEE!"

And then she lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. She'd jumped onto a weak branch…

"Eh? Sharne-chan?" Kakashi leapt to the ground and sweatdropped.

Sharne blushed furiously and attempted to stand up. _'How embarrassing!' _she thought. "Um…ano…sorry, I was just looking down and- OWWEEE!" she fell straight back to the floor.

"Where does it hurt?" Kakashi asked worriedly, inspecting her foot.

"M-my ankle.. I think I sprained it! Owww~.." she moaned. The other Jonin had stopped and come to see what the hassle was about.

"Damn, well, _this_ is not good. Wait…you're a medic-nin so you can fix your ankle up, right?" asked Genma.

"No…I can only heal bruises and open wounds, sadly." she lowered her head in pity, "I haven't been taught with bones, sprains or fractures yet..." it was her turn to sweatdrop now. _'Kami I suck!'_

"Mm, this could be troublesome…" mumbled Shikamaru.

"Oh no! SHARNEY-CHAAAAN!" yelled Gai.

"It's a good thing we don't need her in battle." Anko added bitterly.

"Kurenai, could you pass me a bandage?" Kakashi asked her, and Kurenai reached into her backpack and handed him one. Kakashi sat on the floor with Sharne's lower leg placed over his thigh. Holding her lower leg gently with one hand to support it, he began to wind the bandage firmly around Sharne's ankle joint. Though the sprain hurt, it felt strangely nice when he did it…

She thought about that time…_Déjà vu much?_

She just wanted to sit like that forever (she didn't know how she was gonna walk anyway), but Kakashi quickly finished off the bandage and laid her leg back in front of her. He kneeled at her side, pulled her arm across his shoulder and slowly pulled her up. Sharne took the weight off her poorly foot immediately. "I'm sorry…" her lip trembled. She felt like she would cry. Not only had she slowed them down, but Anko was now acting even more spiteful towards her, and she couldn't even walk. What would happen now…?

"..eh?" Kakashi suddenly hoisted her onto his back. "You haven't done anything wrong."

Sharne's eyes widened, "Won't this tire you out like this? I can…catch you up…"

"Hah. As if this is tiresome for me," he actually let out a soft laugh. "Don't be silly, Sharne-chan. Just sit tight." All ninja continued to move forward again.

"Okay…thanks, Kakashi-senpai." she grinned to herself and wrapped her arms around Kakashi's neck for security as he leapt through the forest. It was a familiar feeling, and she could smell the pleasantly masculine scent of him she always recognised.


	7. FaceOff

It was too quiet. _Deathly_ quiet even. Kakashi had reluctantly left Sharne in a safe spot outside Fire Country. Yamato had placed a jutsu on her so if any enemies tried to attack her she would be instantly shielded by wood and earth.

All the time she fretted and wondered if they would all be okay. She knew she couldn't leave to help else the jutsu would break and she would just get insta-assassinated, anyways.

Twenty torturous minutes passed, it felt like hours.

Then she heard a loud wail of someone in pain coming from the castle.

She knew that voice.

'_KAKASHI!'_

_.~._

Kakashi stood facing the King Inferno clutching the left side of his chest. The kunai that struck had missed his heart by inches. _Lucky? Yeah, but damn, all this blood.._

When she had disobediently gone against Kakashi's orders and limped into the castle's grounds, she was glad she had. She saw him struggling to stand, surrounded by a pool of blood that he had lost from his chest. She stared in horror and disbelief, and screamed.

"Kakashi!"

Kakashi continued to stare straight at the King, his eyes holding a look of terror. _No…Sharne…why?_

"Ah, isn't this precious? Your girlfriend came to save you, Copy Ninja?" the King watched in amusement as Sharne attempted to limp to Kakashi.

"Foolish girl." the King focused his attention on Sharne, and starting performing the hand movements for a Fireball jutsu.

"Kuso..." Kakashi, summoning up his strength, jumped in front of Sharne, blocking the King's aim. He growled. _Bastard..._

"Don't move!" he shouted to Sharne, channelling his chakra to his left hand which began sparking and crackling in electric blue.

"I don't want you to die!" the tears flowed freely down her cheeks, and she gripped the back of his Jonin vest tightly, pressing her cheek into it.

"I won't let you get hurt..." He gathered the last of his chakra into the palm of his hand and pushed her aside out of target range. His attack was ready, with the glass-breakingly loud screech of a thousand birds, he leapt forward at his opponent...

.~.

*Flashback*

"_I won't let you die… I'll protect you with my life!" he channelled his last remaining chakra through his arms, down to his hand, charging at the enemy with a blinding blue light and the sound of a thousand birds…_

.~.

"KATON! GOUKA KYUU NO JUTSU!"

"CHIDORI!"

...

_The two powerful ninja collided with their devastating techniques, colouring the sky in reds and blues…_


	8. A little sweetness

Ten ninja, and one Snow Queen, were resting peacefully in a sunny little meadow just off of Fire Country. The enemy had been defeated and the atmosphere felt serene. Kakashi had emerged victor of the main battle, bragging that the battle had been _"a piece of cake" _to his rival Gai's disgust, though he was still pretty beat up.

He sat resting in the shade against the bark of an old willow, as Sharne carried on healing the hole in his chest with her hands, using her chakra. There were some burn marks on his face from the King's attack - though the Chidori had acted as a veil, it didn't stop the flames penetrating entirely - so she got to work, placing a hand on the side of his cheek.  
He was watching her attentively as she healed him, but she didn't know it. She finished up when she couldn't heal anymore, the wounds looked just like a purplish bruise and light scars now.

"Thanks." he said gratefully, and patted her on the head, she grinned, then a pause.

"It _was_ pretty impressive of you…Kakashi-senpai."

"Heh."

"I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm glad _you're_ okay."

Sharne smiled weakly. He'd never broken that promise. But he'd risked his life again…

.~.

"…_I'll protect you with my life!"_

_.~._

She lowered her eyes to the grass, her fringe covering her eyes, a way of hiding her sorrow from the world. Because of her, he'd nearly died. Why was she so careless, always getting in the way since she was a child? She didn't want to cause him so much trouble all the time...

Kakashi cocked his head, and lifted his fingers to her chin, gently tilting her face back up to meet his. "...Don't look so down, Sharne-chan." Sharne blushed deeply as she looked into his onyx eye with misty ones.

"You look so pretty when you smile."


	9. Lost Without You

Three twinkling stars could be seen in the clear evening sky of Star Village. Sharne had to turn away from the window after witnessing a couple kissing under the romantic starry sky. She adjusted her white starry alice band, feeling sorry for herself.

It was her 21st birthday. A birthday that was meant to be memorable, right?

_So why am I so lonely right now…_

_.~._

The people of Star Village treasured her as their princess and had thrown her a party to celebrate. She had greeted her people politely and spoke to them with good manner, but couldn't say that she was close to any of them - they had acted 'familiar', but were simply strangers to Sharne. Though she had been the 'centre of attention' she had felt so left out, and so escaped to her bedroom, grabbing a bag of marshmallows on the way for _some_ kind of comfort.

Her people had found her in Konoha almost a fortnight ago. They were so shocked and surprised when they found out their princess was still alive! They had begged her to come back. They were not too fond of their current ruler, the prince, and Sharne was the next in line to rule the land after the King and Queen. In other cases she would have refused…

But, her life had just crashed down all around her.

For the past two years since their 'mission' ended, Sharne had grown closer to Kakashi. They spent most of their free time usually together, often going out to Ichiraku or Shake It Baby - the milkshake cafe, the seasons' festivals or simply relaxing after Kakashi's missions. Bystanders would simply see them as an item, though they were purely very very close friends. (Or were they...?)

But, not long before her departure, their old teammate had finally returned to Konoha - Rin. She was ecstatic to see her again - Rin was alive! It had been such a long time…but shortly, something became painfully obvious to Sharne.

Rin had fallen in love with Kakashi all over again. _And that's when I realised..._

Sharne had known it as a little girl…when they were all grown up, Rin and Kakashi were going to get married. Rin always told her they would. Rin saw that Kakashi and Sharne were still as close as ever, with a relationship like family or best friends or maybe something more…

So, she made sure to show her affection for him openly…always touching his arm or linking it through hers. Always laughing at his witty remarks. The way she would purr his name…

She was torn.

Because she knew...

_She_ loved him too.

.~.

"_Kakashi-saaan!" Rin had spotted them both in the meadow, drinking some juice. She bounded over to them and plonked herself next to Kakashi. "I've been looking for you.." she scooched up close to him, and winked. _

_Sharne watched uncomfortably, and listened mindlessly as Rin was chattering away at Kakashi, completely infatuated by him, though he just seemed bored, not exactly interested in her banter. Sharne couldn't say a word…and excused herself with the excuse she was meeting Naruto for ramen._

_As she returned to the deserted village streets, she tilted her head down and bit her lip, clenching her fist. _'If we had a chance…it's gone now.._'_

_Kakashi and Rin were obviously perfect for each other. Kakashi was just holding back on Rin because he didn't want to hurt Sharne's feelings, she knew it. Tears filled her eyes.. "Kakashi.. you.. baka…"_

_.~._

Kakashi was plain shocked when Sharne had said she was leaving Konoha. But he wasn't too surprised…she was a Princess. Therefore she deserved to be treated as one, not as a simple weak kunoichi by the Leaf ninja. Not that that bothered him - but why wouldn't she want to return to her village…one she thought had been destroyed? Where she rightly belonged…?

"_If you don't like it there, you're always welcome back here you know…" _he had told her the day she was going to leave.

"_Thanks…Kakashi." _her eyes were dull and lowered, and looking to the right somewhere. _'She looks so sad…'_

He knew she was finding it hard to say goodbye to him, just as he was. He _couldn't_ say goodbye, his selfish side yelling that Sharne leaving was ridiculous and wrong, and he looked at her puzzled. Kakashi knew she didn't want to leave, really, and restrained himself from pulling her to him and refusing to let go. If she wanted to stay here in Konoha with him, why was she punishing herself?

.~.

On the day she met with the soldiers of Star Village and they exited the village, she noticed Kakashi in the distance atop some building. He didn't make any motions - just watched her as she left.

He probably would have dragged her back to the village by the elbow within a second, but the last two days some rogue, missing-nin had attacked the Hidden Leaf, blowing up parts of it and a mini war had begun. Kakashi and Iruka had dealt with them, but maybe it was best she left incase they came under attack again and she was hurt. He watched her turn to look back with a pang in his chest.

'_Don't look back!'_ Sharne thought, feeling a lump in her throat…

.~.

Later that night the Jonin had gathered in the bar for their routinely drinks and gossip. Kakashi was sitting alone, however...so Rin jumped at the chance and confessed her feelings.

"Kakashi, I cannot hold it in any longer...I need you to know this…I-.. I love you! Please, tell me you feel the same way?"

Rin was leaning in close to him. Kakashi's eyes widened and he was taken aback. He knew that she was probably in love with him, but was still shocked by her sudden outburst.

"What do you think, Kakashi…?"

There was silence, uncomfortable silence.

"...Sorry, Rin."

Her face faulted.  
So her assumptions were true. Kakashi had looked away from her, his visible eye shut, almost squinting as though he might've been in pain...

"_..but I love her."_


	10. Surprise

Sharne had to get out of the castle. She had to clear her head of two certain ninja in her mind right now…a silent wander down to the peaceful meadow would settle her head. All that could be heard were the crickets chirping by the riverside once she'd reached her desired spot. The moon and the stars looked so mystical and dreamy on the water's reflection. The night was so calm, the temperature so pleasant and warm without any chill…she was wearing only white denim shorts and a pink floaty vest top. _'Heh, and there is usually thunder and lightning on my birthdays.' _she thought.

...

A suspicious-looking ninja in the Village of the Stars watched her from the forest, out of view. He wasn't wearing his hitai-ate incase some Star-nin thought he was some rogue ninja, stalking their princess in the night - of whom gazed into the night sky, then down into the river as if looking at her reflection.

She was alone.

She was sad.

He caught the glistening at the corner of her eye, a tear?

He decided she looked out of place in this village.

The ninja silently made his move towards her, slowly, without even crunching a leaf, stopping directly behind her.

.~.

"...Sharne."

.~.

She gasped in fear, shaken out of her daydreams and instantly spinning around.

"Ka.. Kaka…shi?"

She was stunned. She had been thinking of him all day, and now, he was here? He was here. For real. He had found her. Was this a dream?

"Heh. Didn't think I'd forget your birthday, did you?" he smiled his genuine smile. The headband was missing she noticed, allowing his floppy hair to fall over his face.

She felt a heat in her cheeks. It really **was** him. But why did he bother? She left him after all…

"I got you a present, but I had to leave it in the Leaf Village, so you'll have to come back for it. Will this do for now, Princess?" he smirked and opened a box, handing her a strawberry flavoured Pocky stick from it. She smiled distantly at the sentimentalness behind the treat, but then it turned into a frown of confusion at him. He only smiled back, then looked at her with a somewhat intense look.

"I've come to take you home, Sharne-chan..."

Her lips pursed together and she shifted her eyes elsewhere. "Why? I…I can't…"

"Why not?" he asked, almost demandingly. "You're not happy living here, and you didn't want to leave, did you?" he put both of his hands firmly on her shoulders to make her look at him. "Sharne…I want you to be happy again. Come back to the Hidden Leaf.. I miss you keeping me company when I take breaks from training. I miss your random chatter about anything when I'm _supposed_ to be training." he paused, realising his grip was _still_ a little firm, and rubbed her shoulders once. "Hmm...I need you."

She blushed at the intensity of his stare and his words, she'd never seen him reveal emotions like this before. "But…what about...Rin?"

"Eh-.. Rin?"

"She's in love with you..."

"Ah…yeah. The other day, she told me how she really felt, and asked me if I felt the same way. I told her I wasn't interested."

"Oh…"

"I told her I loved someone else."

Sharne looked up into his onyx eye with her hazel ones, with a longing and hope that he could never refuse. "Who is that…?"

He paused. Softening his grip, he slid his fingers to the sides of her shoulders.

"You."

* * *

A/N: Omg. *_*


	11. My Guardian Angel

The forest was quiet and blissful in the night, bathed in the moonlight, as they walked the route back to the Hidden Leaf at an easy pace, her arm linked through his. They didn't talk, just enjoyed each others company in blissful silence.

.~.

_Her breath caught in her throat as she gasped at his confession. This had to be a dream. He was going to disappear at any moment, because she couldn't believe it..!_

_Kakashi brushed her cheek lightly with his hand, before cupping it, testing the water between them. His Sharingan eye was uncovered, she looked into them, they were both so different - one so handsome, dark and alluring, the other a striking red, with patterns that could hypnotise, but both eyes held the same certainty. He really wasn't lying._

_He tilted her head up and leaned closer in to her, fingers tracing her jawline. He paused, unsure, registering the surprisedness on her face…then moved up slightly and kissed her gently between the eyes instead, with his mask still on. It felt so warm and pleasant, even through the material, she wished he would do it again. Her heart fluttered, still staring at him in awe._

_She hadn't said moved or said anything. Kakashi was unsure of how she felt... he slowly let go of her face and moved his hand away. But quickly she stepped forward as if chasing the hand - not wanting to break the contact he was finally offering._

"_Kakashi…" she whispered, bravely stepping up to him, lightly pressing herself against his chest. She hadn't seen him allow anyone get close like this before, he was always the reserved ninja. But he didn't push her away._

"_I love you, Sharne-chan." he said in a lower tone, his voice smooth like velvet chocolate. He stroked his fingers down her long, dark hair. She made another quiet gasp of shock hearing the words, and she revelled in the feeling of him playing with her hair, and instinctively moved closer to him, placing her hand on his chest and laying her cheek into it. He felt strong and secure…it felt so good and right._

_Sharne looked up into his mismatched eyes, but mostly into onyx. "I love you too…Kakashi-kun!" _

_She smiled sweetly and sincerely, in that way he hadn't seen for a long time. She had found her happiness again._

_Kakashi wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her delicate form close in a romantic embrace. He smelt her sweet and familiar raspberry-scented hair. If he could, he would hold her like this forever, he would always protect her that way._

_But he broke it after a few more moments and faced her. "So…you'll come back with me?"_

"_Yes! I- I didn't really want to leave, it was just be-…mm.." her eyes shifted downwards, _"_I'm sorry. I want to go back. I want to go home…"_

"_Then let's go home." He smiled his genuine Copy Ninja smile, which she could only mimic right back at him, then took her hand and led her out of the Village of the Stars forever._

_.~._

He looked magnificent in the moon's light, she thought, as she peeked up at him while they walked. His proud demeanor making him look like he should be made into a statue, not unlike the stone carvings of the Hokage. Sharne found herself blushing madly then and quickly turned her head away when he caught her admiring him. _Damn! He caught me.._

'She's so cute,' Kakashi smirked. "I got you another present."

"Oh, is it in Konoha too?" Sharne asked curiously and blinked.

"No..." he'd stopped walking now. "Do you want it?"

"Um…yes!"

"Then close your eyes."

As she obeyed, Kakashi stood closer to her, and brought his hand up and lowered his mask off of his face. He bent down, and whilst holding her chin with his palm, he lightly pressed his lips onto hers in a sweet, tender kiss. His mouth lingered on hers for a few moments before breaking the kiss and stepping back. He pulled his mask back up.

"o-oh.." she moaned quietly and blissfully.

"You can open your eyes now."

She opened them slowly…her cheeks were as pink as a plum, and Kakashi's too held a pinkish hue. Her heart was pounding. _That was…sooo amazing... When did he become such a good kisser...?_

"uu…ano…" she moaned again, quietly…and stepped forwards to him again, courageously onto her tiptoes, and hesitantly planted a soft kiss on his masked lips. It wasn't as good as the real thing, but it still felt _really_ _nice_. She was almost worried for a second that he would push her back to stop her getting close to him - being the reserved shinobi that he was - but Kakashi placed his hands on her shoulders lightly, trailing them down to the edges and up again affectionately. Bravely, she traced her fingers on his cheeks, over the mask to the edges of it, and looked at him, waiting for reassurance and permission.

"Heh. Go ahead." he said, and she slowly pulled down his mask…

Revealing that _very_ handsome face she only had the pleasure of seeing a few times before. She was stunned for a few seconds…magnificent? He looked like an angel. _'__Kawaii...' S_he was sure little hearts would be popping out her head right now like they did in her manga. Kakashi had waited to see her expression, before smiling, which looked somewhat like a cheeky smirk.

He took her face in his hands with care and looked into her starry hazel eyes with a cute smile. "You're so beautiful, hime."

Sharne looked deep into his lazy but affectionate onyx eye, in infatuation. Beautiful? No one had said that to her before...her insides turned to a fuzzy mush.  
She leaned in slowly as he tilted his head down to hers, meeting and tasting her strawberry-Pocky-flavoured lips in a long, sweet, passionate kiss. His hands moved to the small of her back, tracing a circle, then slowly running up her back and spine making her melt into him, and she wrapped her arms around his strong neck.  
Kakashi pulled her closer into his body, deepening the kiss slowly and gradually - his lips pressed hers softly then firmer, back to light and feathery for a moment almost teasingly, then deeper once more. Sharne squeezed a bit tighter round his neck in ecstasy, her knees suddenly weak that he had to support her, one arm holding round her waist. She never thought Kakashi could be quite the romantic.

When they broke the kiss, Kakashi didn't break the tight embrace they were in. They remained in this position for quite some time…it felt too awesome to let her go.  
"Happy Birthday, Sharne-chan." Kakashi smirked as she wobbled to stand on her feet.

.~.

It was getting pretty late now, so the pair of lovers continued their journey home. They wouldn't make it to Konoha tonight, so they would have to sleep under the stars, but Sharne didn't mind that. It was the best birthday she'd ever had. And she had Kakashi.

They found a safe spot to sleep by some flat rocks under a big tree. They leant against the cool rocks, Sharne shivered a little and snuggled up to Kakashi. He took off his Jonin vest and draped it round her (removing his weapons ofcourse - she wasn't playing with a _shuriken_ again), then put his arm behind and round her shoulders so she could lean against his shoulder instead for protection and extra warmth, rather than cold rock. He opened his Sharingan eye, closing the other, for he would be watch out for the night.

Sharne sighed contentedly in the warm vest, taking in the pleasantly familiar scent that was completely Kakashi, and nuzzled into his side, resting her head on him and closing her eyes. She thought about peoples' reactions when they would arrive in Konoha. _'All the other girls competed for this unattainable guy, but he actually chose _me_ over them all. ME! Shannaro!' _Inner-Sharne smirked.  
Kakashi was admiring his 'sleeping' kunoichi, and gently kissed her forehead, "Goodnight, Princess…Sleep well, you'll be safe." he said. He scanned over the landscape, pulling her closer instinctively. She timidly held onto his hand that was around her with one of hers, and she didn't think she could feel any safer.

"Goodnight, Kaka-senpai…" and Sharne drifted off into the most blissful sleep she'd ever have. Because Kakashi was watching over her.

'_He really is my Guardian Angel.'_

_.~._

Kakashi had drifted into a light nap, but woke up in alarm to the quiet shuffling of a mouse's feet on a leaf. Not expecting to get back to sleep anytime soon, he gazed upon the sleeping little ninja girl... '_who has blossomed into an attractive young woman,' _he mentally corrected himself. He'd never taken the time to stop and look at her, really, viewing their relationship as just friends, or (worse) brother-sister or teacher-student. He didn't expect to her feelings to stray far from those categories, anyway.

But now she was all grown up - it was obvious to him now, as he found himself staring a little more than a moment at the smooth skin of her bare legs. Shaking his head to get rid of the perverted thoughts and Inner Kakashi's voice scolding him for "_perving on innocent sleeping girls_", he averted his gaze elsewhere.  
He settled upon her face. Indeed, she was a sleeping beauty and he decided he didn't feel the need for Icha Icha to keep him awake when her serene face was enough to watch.

He gingerly placed his hand on her arm resting on her lap, fingers travelling down to meet the old yet visible scar on the joint of her thumb. He lifted her hand, inspecting the scar and tracing over it lightly with his fingers. Old memories appeared vividly in his mind, and he snickered at how careless she was.  
Such a long time ago, but now he remembered the expression on her face when his menacing-looking shadow clone instantly appeared before her and fixed the wound - she'd fallen for him then. "Heh,"

Kakashi froze for an instant when she breathed in deeply, then out slowly, as if she might just wake. But then he realised, it was okay - he loved her, she loved him back. He wasn't making a big mistake - he kept a hold on her hand. Some people may view her as his student, but she wasn't - _even if she _does_ still call me senpai - _he wasn't being lecherous or perverted, though her younger 'secret' admirer Genma might have a few words to say about this. And hopefully Tsunade-sama wouldn't slap him silly when they got back to Konoha tomorrow.

"Kakashi..." he looked down, but she wasn't awake. _Ha, she's dreaming..._

_"_I... _I..."_

But she couldn't spit it out and resumed snoring lightly in slumber. Kakashi grinned and ruffled her hair, letting the hand fall to tuck hair behind her ear, "I love you too."  
He felt her wriggle against him and drew his free arm around _his_ kunoichi, pulling her form up tight againt his warm body, wrapping her lovingly up in both of his arms. He sniffed her hair and kissed it, the familiar scent lulling him back into sleep.

__

* * *

A/N: uaaa! and there it is! #^-^#

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it! I'm thinking of writing another KakaSharne story (maybe even Deidara will appear...) soo pleasee give me good constructive criticism and review! *please?* ^.^

ja ne for now!

Sharne~_  
_


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